updated 02:55 pm EDT, Tue October 17, 2006

LG VX9900 for Verizon

While LG's Chocolate phone is currently a centerpiece of Verizon's phone lineup, the US carrier is set to introduce a much more advanced smartphone in coming weeks, according to information obtained by SlashPhone. Product photos of the upcoming LG VX9900 were uncovered today which clearly show the phone branded by Verizon for its release in America. Though not formally announced, the VX9900 is known to be a slider phone in the vein of the T-Mobile MDA that exposes a full QWERTY keyboard underneath a conventional phone layout. LG similarly intends the new device to be media-centric and has built in a 2-megapixel camera with optical zoom and a microSD card slot for games and music. Bluetooth and EVDO support are virtually certain as well. A formal release timeframe remains unknown, but the finished state of the photography points to the phone becoming available through Verizon before the end of the year.